Ground Up Strength

http://www.ted.com First, Keith Barry shows us how our brains can fool our bodies — in a trick that works via podcast too. Then he involves the audience in some jaw-dropping (and even a bit dangerous) feats of brain magic.

That stuff he did was both cool and freaky. Very interesting video.

He exposes some of the charlatans out there by doing his thing but making it clear you are being deceived. Like the cold reading he did super quick with the Lady's ex-boyfriends name. There is also the possibility that he got the name wrong but she "played along" which is one of the primary factors. Most people are "nice" and won't expose the performer.

I'm thinking of characters like John Edwards making people think he is talking to their dead relatives.

The guy raising his hand up and down at the table…this could be completely wrong but he could have easily directed that guy with his foot under the table. "Forget all this even though you're not really hypnoized", lol. I'm probably wrong about the foot thing but the point is he somehow directed the guy to do what he wanted. And notice that he said, in a moment you'll feel a 'certain' pressure. He never explicitly stated that the pressure would be on the guys hand. He didn't even lie! The trick is that we trick ourselves.

I really like when he said 'you're not trained in deception' (or something like that) and when he said "if I don't want you to look at my right hand I won't look at it, but if I want you to I'll show you that I'm looking at it". He SAYS he is going to deceive you and use misdirection lol.

That foot pressure idea is genius. I'm still trying to think of how he did the cup trick!

I've seen that one before and I gave it a little thought.

What I think is it's beyond me to figure out, lol. Like he said, if you're not trained in deception and how to manipulate people then your theories of how it's done are going to be way off.

I really like the first one with the hands. It's so simple and elegant. Just a second of misdirection and he changed his hand positions.

Have you seen Darren Brown?

That was really cool!!! I love the Coke Bottle deception as well.

Yeah, the coke bottle thing I've actually seen a few different people do. I posted it more for the "mental" tricks but the coke bottle thing is cool. It's a prop though. The bottles are treated in some way. I think it's something to do with cooling and heating the outside and inside to different temperatures very quickly which stresses the bottle so that it remains "strong" on the outside but just a tiny little knock on the inside by a sharp object (piece of broken glass) shatters it.

Have you seen Darren Brown?

Never heard of him. Or maybe I have and have forgotten, lol. I'll take a look.

Yeah, the coke bottle thing I've actually seen a few different people do. I posted it more for the "mental" tricks but the coke bottle thing is cool. It's a prop though. The bottles are treated in some way. I think it's something to do with cooling and heating the outside and inside to different temperatures very quickly which stresses the bottle so that it remains "strong" on the outside but just a tiny little knock on the inside by a sharp object (piece of broken glass) shatters it.

You can do something similar with just a regular old beer bottle and a penny. Drop the penny into an empty beer bottle and then using your wrist you sort of twirl the beer bottle around so the penny spins along the bottom edge. The penny will either shoot out of a slot/hole in the side or it will take the bottom off.

Really? You don't have to prepare the bottle? Coke bottles are WAY thicker than beer bottles, btw. Especially right along the base.

You might have to prepare a coke bottle, I'm not sure. I think it has to do with either the material you put into the bottle being harder than the bottle or you somehow introduce resonance into the bottle (people singing into wine glasses and making them pop sort of thing). Afterall, he didn't say the piece of glass was from another coke bottle.

This is it, Joe:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bologna_bottle

Cool. Now to figure out the beer bottle trick!

Thanks, E.

You won't believe this, Joe. I just read somewhere that someone patented a technique for this and sells the prepared bottle to magicians for over one hundred bucks a pop! (get it…pop?) I'm so damned punny.

I think you were a comedian in a past life.

Not a very good one then